21/05/2010 | Standing Committee
In a resolution adopted today in Skopje, PACE invited member states to “encourage the use of geothermal energy”. According to the Assembly, in order to achieve this goal it is essential, to “increase realisation and awareness among the general public and potential investors of the advantages of geothermal technologies”, and to set up suitable “strategic research programmes, financing and insurance schemes”.
21/05/2010 | Standing Committee
The Assembly elected the Council of Europe’s new Secretary General, Thorbjorn Jagland, by a significant majority, with a clear mandate to pursue reform, and should now aim to assist him in implementing the institutional improvements he envisages, the Assembly said today. Given the current difficulties, 2011 must therefore be regarded as a year of transition, the parliamentarians believe.
21/05/2010 | Standing Committee
In a resolution adopted today in Skopje, the PACE urged member to “increase the quality, quantity and regularity of the information they share with other member states on sex offenders” for effective oversight of their movements from one country to another, and to do so in compliance with the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data.
21/05/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Alongside the 7th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Equality between Women and Men (Baku, 24-25 May), a PACE delegation of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men headed by its Chairman, José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD) will hold bilateral exchanges of views on women’s place in political life and prevention of violence against women.
21/05/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The situation of local democracy in Venezuela will be central to the exchange of views which PACE's Committee on Local and Regional Affairs will hold in Paris on Friday 28 May 2009 starting at 9.30 am (55, avenue Kléber, 75116 Paris, Boissière metro station). The meeting will be open to the press. Prominent among the participants are Diego Arria, former Ambassador of Venezuela to the UN, and Juan Carlos Alvarez, son and lawyer of Oswaldo Alvarez, a Venezuelan objector and former candidate to the Presidency of the Republic.
21/05/2010 | Monitoring
In an information note on the functioning of democratic institutions in Moldova, declassified by the Monitoring Committee on 19 May, the co-rapporteurs urged the majority coalition and the Communist Party to enter into constructive negotiations, showing the necessary political will to come to an agreement, on amendments to Article 78 of the constitution in order to facilitate the election of the President of the Republic, while fully availing themselves of the Venice Commission’s expertise.
21/05/2010 | Standing Committee
"The priorities of the Macedonian Chairmanship [of the Committee of Ministers] largely coincide with those that I promote as President of the Parliamentary Assembly,” today said Mevlüt Çavusoglu at the opening of the PACE Standing Committee in Skopje.
20/05/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu has congratulated the authorities of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” on the programme for the Macedonian Chairmanship of the Council of Europe. Meeting Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski today in Skopje, ahead of the Assembly’s meetings on 20-21 May, the President said the programme “largely coincides with the activities of PACE and also with the priorities of my Presidency, in particular as regards strengthening human rights protection and reinforcing intercultural and inter-religious dialogue”.
19/05/2010 | President
On the last day of his official visit to Montenegro (16-19 May 2010), PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu met the Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Dukanovic, when he reiterated his appreciation for the progress achieved by Montenegro in implementing the obligations and commitments it took on when it joined the Council of Europe in 2007. He also expressed his support for the country's efforts to join the European Union and Euro-Atlantic structures as fully and quickly as possible.
18/05/2010 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
A report adopted today by the PACE Migration Committee in Paris makes a plea for assisted voluntary return programmes for irregular migrants as a more humane, cheaper and mutually beneficial alternative to forced return or compulsory removal. "These programmes can succeed where forced returns fail, they can contribute to a sustainable return and help development in the country of origin," the rapporteur Özlem Türköne (Turkey, EPP/CD) stressed.
17/05/2010 | President
Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Chair Antonio Miloshoski and PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu today called on the authorities of Belarus to commute the death sentences of Andrei Burdyko and Oleg Grishkovtsov, who have just been sentenced to death by the Court of the Grodno region.
17/05/2010 | President
Addressing the Parliament of Montenegro today as part of his official visit to the country, the PACE President stressed that he got the impression that “Montenegro had come to peace with itself, in its independence gained almost to the day four years ago”. He welcomed the clear progress the country has made, including through the adoption of numerous Council of Europe standards and conventions, which will, he said, “assist Montenegro on its road to European Union membership”.